Same Old, Same Old
by zithara
Summary: Same faces, same sounds, same town, same, same, same. Paula grows desperately weary of her stale life in Twoson, and yearns for the kinship and adventure of her early teens. Luckily, Ness has reunion plans on his mind. (In progress; might have some ness/paula and jeff/tony in later chapters)


The day was a hot one, white heat raising off of the parched pavement in pronounced ripples. Summer had hit the town of Twoson like a train, and the citizens acted like this was the case. While armed with a menagerie of personal fans, ice packs, and cheap sprinklers, the heat still had absolutely crushed them. No one dared to step foot outside, and those who had to be outside hid in the cool, damp shade of the neighboring woods. To say the least, they were slightly uncomfortable, and largely unconscious.  
As such, no one had noticed the crackling pop that rang through the stagnant July air, shattering through the standard sounds of cicadas and jays. The burning grass and skidmarks that coincided with the sudden sound seemed fitting to the unbearable heat, and were similarly ignored. The charred boy struggling to his feet on the scorched asphalt was a bit out of the ordinary, sure, but it was far too hot for anyone to take notice.  
Anyone except for the young Paula Polestar, that is.  
At 17, Paula was on the brink of adulthood, and eager to embrace the freedom that came with it. Ever since she had returned from her world-saving adventures years before, her world had begun to feel cramped. Of course, she still adored her family, even if they were a bit overbearing at times. And sure, she loved taking care of the kids at the preschool, despite their all-too-frequent tantrums made even worse by the scalding air. She enjoyed Twoson and its homely atmosphere and familiar faces, and appreciated all the support that the town had provided her with, both past and present. But there was something missing. It was all the same here, day after day, smiling faces, friends, family, a distant shout and familiar jingle as the ice cream truck stopped for its daily rounds. It was _too _pleasant, really, and despite a nagging voice in the back of her head telling her she was being ridiculous, she actually _missed _the crazy adventures she had embarked on in her early teen years. She missed the dirt, the grime, the desperate search for food in a cave untouched for hundreds of years. It had been almost a year since she had even been able to spend time with all of the boys she had grown so close to, and she missed all of them dearly.  
Of course, there was something else specifically that she missed, more than anything else of the years she secretly yearned to taste again.

Something she still held tightly to her heart, the only thing of the old years that had stuck tightly to her side, something – no, _someone, _that-  
"Ness!" Paula shouted in greeting as a slightly charred, sweating, and utterly disheveled boy stepped through her front door. He tapped some charcoal out of his sneakers, and then shut the door behind him and began to draw a hand across his forehead, only to be interrupted by a tight hug. "You're a mess," said Paula with a laugh as she stepped back.  
"Nice to see you, too", replied Ness with a chuckle. He discarded his blackened sneakers at the door, and promptly collapsed on the loveseat closest to the front door. He sprawled out and took off his cap, fanning himself with it. "It's hooooot", he groaned.  
"Oh, and you just needed someone to complain to, then?" Paula clicked her tongue in disapproval. "I ought to kick you back out there if that's the only reason you came to visit me."  
Ness' eyes snapped open and he shot up. "Noooo!" he yelped. "Even you wouldn't be that cold! Well-" he paused, and pursed his lips. It occurred to him that cold did not exactly have the negative connotations he intended in the current situation. Cold sounded quite pleasant, really. He quickly added "Mean- I mean," before he realized that sounded equally ridiculous, and stuttered, "I mean, rude?" as a last attempt to salvage his point.

A failed attempt. Paula burst out laughing. "Then why _are _you here, boy wonder?" she asked.  
"Oh!" Ness' eyes brightened. "I almost forgot, I think my brain maybe started boiling a bit. It's _really _hot out there, you know-"  
"Out with it, then!" Paula hastily interrupted, not wanting to hear one more word about the ghastly heat.  
Ness flashed a wolfish grin. "Do you want to take a bit of a trip, Paula?"  
"Count me as intrigued".  
"It could be dangerous,"  
"Being your friend is already dangerous,"

"It could be flat-out unpleasant, really, there are several unruly characters we may run into if-"  
"Ness!" Paula was getting slightly impatient, and very excited at the prospect of leaving her idyllic little world once again.  
Ness smiled and slung a worn yellow backpack off of his shoulder. He unzipped it at a painfully slow rate, Paula leaning forward eagerly as she waited to discover what he was reaching for. He dug around briefly, grabbed onto something, smiled, and made a low whistling sound as he slowly, _obnoxiously slowly _produced what appeared to be a stained, well-worn, and well-loved copy of-

"The scrapbook?" Paula whispered excitedly. "You still have it!" She held out her hands for it, and, after having it gently placed in her palms, began to thumb through it with a gentle smile pulling at the corners of her lips. The memories flooded back to her as she glanced through the photos, from the soft, green, green grass and silently resonant chimes of the sanctuaries they sought after to the late, frost-chilled nights desperately trying to find a hotel that would take their money no-questions-asked. From the utter and complete horror and fear they had all felt in their bodies, souls, and minds, to the love and friendship that had brought the entire world to salvation. As she looked at the photos, and the sometimes bright, sometimes haggard faces of her friends, she couldn't help but smile.  
"Let's visit them," said Ness after a while.  
Paula self-consciously covered her almost embarrassingly wide grin with her fingertips.  
"Yes, please".

-  
**AN: Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter! I figured it would be fun to write a little story of all these lil EB munchkins getting back together for some good times. I'll hopefully update soon! There will likely be some Ness/Paula and Jeff/Tony in the future, but I want to keep this story focused on friendship mostly! :D**


End file.
